- Four Reporters Subpoenaed After Asking About Trump’s Qatari Air Force One’s Defenses
Source: Military.com
“On Friday, federal agents delivered grand jury subpoenas to four New York Times journalists, arriving in some cases at their homes, days after the paper reported the Secret Service had urged President Donald Trump to leave Turkey aboard an older jet rather than his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One. The subpoenas order Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt to testify Wednesday before a federal grand jury in Manhattan ‘in regard to an alleged violation of criminal law,’ according to the Times, which says it will fight the order. David McCraw, the paper’s newsroom lawyer, said the sight of federal agents on reporters’ doorsteps ‘should shock the conscience of any American.’ Issuing them was Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, whom Trump nominated last month to serve as director of national intelligence, the Times reported.” (07/11/26)
https://www.military.com/justice-department-subpoenas-reporters-air-force-one-security
- Beshear: “Tell us what’s going on” with McConnell
Source: The Tennessean
“Mitch McConnell ‘continues his recovery in the hospital,’ his office said Saturday, July 11, offering the same update similar to what it has given for weeks even as new details emerge about the morning the U.S. senator was rushed to the hospital. … Saturday’s statement came as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear continued to press for information about the health of the U.S. senator who represents his state. ‘Let’s end the crazy speculation. Just tell us what’s going on,’ Beshear wrote in a social media post July 11. The 84-year-old Republican senator was hospitalized on June 14, and his office has offered little beyond confirming that he remains under care.” (07/11/26)
- Malaysia: PM’s Coalition Routed by Key Partner in Johor State Poll
Source: US News & World Report
“Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition suffered a crushing defeat to a key partner in a regional poll on Saturday, raising questions over the strength of the blocs’ alliance at the federal level amid talk of an early general election. While the result in Malaysia’s southern Johor state will not directly impact Anwar’s majority in parliament, it could deepen strains between Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan grouping and the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition – rivals that joined forces to form a government after a hung general election in 2022. While Pakatan and BN insist their federal partnership can withstand differences at the state level, Anwar said in May he would consider calling a snap poll if internal divisions continued to widen.” (07/11/26)
- US regime pays out $3 million to victims of mystery Havana Syndrome condition reported by spies
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The US government has paid nearly $3m (£2.2m) in compensation to victims of so-called Havana Syndrome, a mysterious neurological condition reported by spies, diplomats and their families. The payments are the first to be made to US agency staff in relation to the illness, reports of which began emerging a decade ago by CIA officers working in the Cuban capital. Since then, American staff based elsewhere, including China, have reported ‘anomalous health incidents’. Sufferers have described symptoms such as hearing a low hum, clicks, squeals and ‘grinding metal’ while others reported intense pressure on the skull, dizziness and nausea. The US Department of Defence said it would continue to prioritise ‘the care of affected personnel’ as it announced the compensation, paid out under the Havana Act which was signed into law in 2021.” (07/11/26)
- Palestine: Khanna says he was abducted by Israeli squatters in the West Bank
Source: CBS News
“Congressman Ro Khanna said he was detained by Israeli [squatters] for over an hour while visiting the West Bank. Khanna also said members of the Israel Defense Forces spoke with the [squatters] and moved a car to block the road. Khanna’s experience was first reported by The New York Times. A spokesperson for the congressman confirmed the details of the Times'[s] report to CBS News. The Times said a photojournalist from the publication also witnessed the interaction. When asked to comment on Khanna’s allegations, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said it had received a report of Israeli civilians ‘unlawfully blocking the vehicles of foreign nationals and members of the media.’ The IDF said troops ‘were dispatched to the scene, quickly dispersed the Israeli civilians, and reopened the blocked road.'” (07/11/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ro-khanna-israeli-settlers-west-bank/
- Malian, Algerian regimes reopen airspace and reinstate ambassadors, ending a yearlong rift
Source: Seattle Times
“Mali and Algeria reopened their airspace and reinstated their ambassadors, ending a diplomatic rift that started over a year ago after Algeria shot down a Malian armed drone near the shared border. Mali’s military junta said in a statement late Friday it would restore the Algerian ambassador to Bamako and open its airspace to ‘all civilian and military aircraft operating flights to or from the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.’ Algerian media also confirmed the restoration of diplomatic relations. The two nations recalled their ambassadors and closed their airspace in April 2025 after the drone shooting, with Algeria accusing Mali of repeatedly violating its airspace. Mali denied the claim.” (07/11/26)
- Lindsey Graham, 1955-2026
Source: Politico
“Lindsey Graham, the four-term Republican U.S. senator from South Carolina, died on Saturday after a ‘brief and sudden illness,’ his office said in a statement. … Emergency Medical Services responded to Graham’s Capitol Hill address at 8:27 p.m. Saturday for someone with ‘chest pains,’ according to audio of the call. He was 71.” (07/12/26)
- Jagger: Fans don’t want political lectures at concerts
Source: New York Post
“Mick Jagger says fans don’t come to concerts to hear a political lecture in the wake of Bruce Springsteen’s on-stage speeches targeting President Trump. The Rolling Stones frontman weighed in during an interview on The New York Times’ podcast Saturday after host David Marchese questioned him about Springsteen, who has repeatedly criticized President Trump during his latest tour. … ‘The bottom line of my thing really is that my job in the live music world is [for] those people that come is to have the best time they possibly can,’ Jagger said. … Jagger explained he’s not opposed to politics making their way into his music — he just prefers a lighter touch.” (07/12/26)
- The Dishonesty of Political Buyer’s Remorse
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“On June 9, Graham Platner won the Democratic Party’s nomination for US Senate from Maine with 72.1% of the primary vote. On July 10, Platner withdrew from the race, presumably due to popular demand by the same voters who nominated him. I’m tempted to a bit of schadenfreude toward those voters. This was not a case of ‘seems like a really good guy, very consistent, upright citizen … oh my God, I had no idea!’ Platner’s entire short political career — his whole adult life, in fact — resembles a locomotive, on fire, pulling boxcars stuffed full of dynamite, accelerating down tracks that terminate at a children’s playground.” (07/12/26)
- Are Economic Systems Amoral?
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Ella Dawson“Can economic systems really be moral or immoral? The end of all economic systems, according to one interpretation of Plato’s Republic, is justice. ‘Plato’s starting point is that the organization of society depends ultimately upon knowledge of the end of existence,’ John Dewey, the father of modern education, writes: ‘If we do not know its end we shall be at the mercy of accident and caprice. Unless we know the end, the good, we shall have no criterion for rationally deciding what the possibilities are which should be promoted, nor how social arrangements are to be ordered’ Dewey is correct, that without a certain end, we shall be at the mercy of accident and ‘caprice’—meaning unpredictable and sudden changes. But Dewey is wrong (and potentially Plato as well) both about approaching economics from a collective angle, and implying that social arrangements even need to be artificially ordered.” (07/10/26)
- Why Local Governments Must Ban Flock Safety Surveillance Cameras
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey“Municipalities allow a private corporation to track free citizens while corrupt officers use the data for personal stalking.” (07/11/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/why-local-governments-must-ban-flock
- The vibe shift in American socialism
Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle“I stand by my assertion that the Soviet Union’s demise cast a long pall over the word ‘socialism’” — at least for those who had not already recoiled from the purges, famines and censorship. I grew up on the Upper West Side, one of the remaining redoubts of socialism in the Reagan era, and watched as the toppling of the Berlin Wall crushed the last hopes that central planning could work. Encountering a socialist holdout in the 1990s was as quaint as finding someone who still believed in alchemy. This makes the current renaissance all the more remarkable. Yet what’s also striking is how little the movement resembles the socialists I remember from my youth.” (07/12/26)
- How Israel and American Zionists Are Canceling First Amendment
Source: CounterPunch
by Jamal Kanj“Pro-Israel foundations fund Think Tanks and media organizations that set the parameters of acceptable debate before a single word is written. Social media algorithms suppress Palestinian postings while amplifying Israeli military statements as authoritative fact. TikTok became a ‘Chinese security risk’ the moment it fell outside their algorithmic control. American Zionists pressured Congress to force its sale, ensuring the last major social media platform joined every other American social media outlet under the thumb of Israel-first ownership. Zionist influence over social media is not a conspiracy theory; it is an openly declared strategy. … Israel’s bullying of American activists critical of Israel and media outlets is not about defamation or even prevailing in court. It is a deterrence strategy by making the financial cost of covering Israeli war crimes high enough that editors think twice before approving the next investigation.” (07/10/26)
- The First Amendment’s “trust” in young adults
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“An appeals court ruled this week that the First Amendment’s freedom of speech principle protects the right of academics in Florida to discuss topics in class that some might view as discriminatory or even offensive. The 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit struck down Florida’s 2022 W.O.K.E. Act, which sought to define how professors at higher education institutions could teach or present what it called ‘divisive concepts’ of race and gender. Supporters of the law said it helped prevent teaching theories that could promote discrimination against students for actions ‘committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, national origin or sex’. Critics viewed it as an attempt to quash candid inquiry into historical and current debates around race and rights.” (07/10/26)
- War Watch: The Masque of the Red Death
Source: The Realist Review
by Martin Sieff“They were lucky in 1914: They only had the Guns of August to worry about. Here in 2026, we are facing thermonuclear weapons. However, now Prince Prospero himself – in the guise of US President Donald Trump – has just presided over the latest NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. Far more than the ghastly, doomed revelry in Roger Corman’s classic 1964 schlock horror movie starring Vincent Price and Hazel Court, it has been the last and greatest ‘Masque of the Red Death.'” (07/11/26)
https://therealistreview.substack.com/p/war-watch-the-masque-of-the-red-death
- The Supreme Court has ruled: One jury shouldn’t write the nation’s warning labels
Source: The Hill
by Cory L Andrews“Last month, the Supreme Court held in Monsanto v. Durnell that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, in tandem with the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, bars a state jury from punishing the maker of Roundup for omitting a cancer warning the EPA has repeatedly refused to require. The decision was right on the law. The reason has less to do with weedkiller than with who, in a country of 50 states and one federal regulator, gets to write the label.” (07/10/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/5959470-supreme-court-monsanto-glyphosate-ruling/
- It’s A Race Between Revolutionary Consciousness And The Implementation Of Police Robots
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“John F Kennedy was correct when he said ‘Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable’. That’s why police robots are being aggressively normalized today. The empire managers want to make sure violent revolution is impossible, too. The New York Times’[s] sports department The Athletic has a creepy new article out titled ‘The ‘Robodogs’ on World Cup patrol in Mexico’ about how wonderful and awesome it is that the international soccer tournament is being patrolled by surveillance robots. The article is functionally a PR piece for police robots, gushing about how ‘cute’ and ‘cool’ onlookers find the dystopian technology.” (07/11/26)
- A Guide to a Muscular Liberalism
Source: Persuasion
by Roger Partridge“Every political tradition faces the question of what constitutes a good life. But only liberalism struggles so visibly to offer a straightforward answer. Authoritarians promise order and national greatness. Socialists promise equality. Post-liberal writers promise meaning and belonging through restored religious and civilizational authority—a life ordered to faith, family, and place. Liberalism alone points nowhere in particular. Its answer—freedom—tells you what to protect, not what to do with it. Yet that silence is not emptiness. It reflects a wise limit: no one can know in advance the forms a flourishing life will take.” (07/10/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/a-guide-to-a-muscular-liberalism
- The 2026 Midterm Vigil (No. 2): The Democrats’ “Failure to Miscommunicate”
Source: American Greatness
by Thaddeus G McCotter“Many moons ago, while serving in Congress, I heard a senior member of the GOP House leadership offer this assessment of the Democrats’ strategy on a particular issue: ‘The Democrats always overplay their hand’. Heading into the 2026 midterm elections, however, it seems less a case of the Democrat minority overplaying its hand than of revealing it. Everyone is well-versed in the historical fact that a president’s party usually loses seats in a midterm election. As this is President Trump’s second midterm election, early projections suggest it will prove as disastrous for the GOP as the first one was in 2018.” (07/11/26)
- The Unexpected Afterlife of Private Wealth
Source: The Daily Economy
by Kimberlee Josephson“Private fortunes outlive their owners. The gardens, architecture, ideas, and institutions they finance often become part of the public inheritance.” (07/10/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-unexpected-afterlife-of-private-wealth/
- Trump: The Embodiment of American and Planetary Decline
Source: Common Dreams
by Tom Engelhardt“Iran, Iraq, Irate. What a world! It couldn’t be much stranger, could it? And by the way, what is it about the Middle East? Since the Gulf War of 1990-1991, it’s just never really ended, has it? Who cares that the region is halfway around the world from Washington, DC? Yes, the US fought Iraq there from 2003 to 2008. And recently, of course, President Donald Trump has gone after Iran. If you want to spread out just a bit more, you could toss in this country’s relatively brief war in Libya and its almost endless one this century in Afghanistan. And don’t blame me if I left something out. After all, I’m almost 82 years old and starting to forget a few things. I mean, Iran makes particular sense, right? After all, it’s a mere 6,000-odd miles from this country.” (07/11/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-embodiment-decline
- Musk v. USAID: The Complicated Legacy of America’s Aid Agency
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Patrick Pillow“In 2026, the world’s first trillionaire—following the recent stock debut of SpaceX—Elon Musk has remained one of the most influential figures in American politics. After campaigning for Donald Trump in 2024 and initially playing a leading role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has remained a constant presence in the headlines. One of his latest political clashes came with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) over the impact of DOGE’s cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Citing a 2025 Lancet study, Khanna argued the reductions were ‘potentially a death sentence for an estimated 4.5 million children around the world.’ … its projection of fourteen million additional deaths by 2030 assumes that other governments, NGOs, private charities, and international organizations would be unable to meaningfully fill the gap left by USAID. That distinction matters.” (07/10/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/musk-v-usaid-the-complicated-legacy-of-americas-aid-agency
- The US Has Been Violating MoU With Iran From Day One
Source: Antiwar.com
by Muhammad Sahimi“The fragile ceasefire between Iran and the United States has been broken once again. The United States has been bombing Iran, claiming that its attacks are in retaliation for Iran attacking three vessels near Straight of Hormuz, which it considers as violation of the Islamabad agreement, officially known as the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two nations. But it is in fact the United States that has been violating the MoU because its interpretation of Article 5 of the MoU is simply false.” (07/10/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/sahimi/2026/07/09/the-us-has-been-violating-mou-with-iran-from-day-one
- Lose the “R” Or Take the “L?”
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson“Moderation and centrism are not necessarily virtuous: A man should not be moderately honest or split the difference between virtue and vice. But in the realm of electoral politics—and, especially, in this time of populist demagoguery—bipartisanship and moderation have real practical value. We do not want our elected officials to be easily carried away by ideological enthusiasm and passion—especially in the Senate, which is meant to be a brake to the House’s accelerator. And because we have a big election every two years, the only sure path to creating a stable policy environment (and there are many cases in which an imperfect stable policy is preferable to an improved but unstable policy) is bipartisanship. Sen. Collins also provides a reminder that more than a few supposed conservatives in our time need: To be conservative is not the same thing as to be a right-wing revolutionist.” (07/10/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/susan-collins-platner-maine-republican-party/
- Does Mamdani dare disavow his openly anti-American DSA comrades?
Source: New York Post
by staff“Kudos to the State Department for putting the kibosh on city International Affairs Commissioner Ana María Archila’s bid to meet with Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, even as America and Iran are at war — but the affair poses a challenge to Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Does he have the grit to break with the openly anti-American factions of the Democratic Socialists of America? Mamdani’s tried to downplay the disgraceful episode, insisting Archila had no clearance to do such outreach, yet he’s not firing her or imposing any discipline. Nor even saying outright how very wrong she was. Which raises the question of whether he prefers the theocratic regime in Tehran to the United States government.” (07/11/26)
- America’s Maritime Policy Is Fighting the Wrong War
Source: Independent Institute
by Caleb Petitt“The Jones Act spends its political energy on shipbuilding. The real maritime power game is somewhere else.” (07/10/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/07/10/america-maritime-policy/
- A Brief History of Strategic Tariffs in the US
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy“A May 29 article in the IMF’s F&D Magazine argues in favor of using U.S. tariffs as a policy tool. It begins by questioning the argument for free trade, claiming that economists have based U.S. and global trade policy on theoretical models rather than empirical evidence: ‘Tariffs were not tried and found wanting but rejected by au courant economic models and left untried. Policymakers, scared of challenging the elite consensus derived from such models, closed off the universe of options and strategies to solve America’s challenges.’ However, in the U.S. there is an extensive history of trying to use tariffs strategically, especially in the late 1800s through the mid-1900s.” (07/10/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/a-brief-history-of-strategic-tariffs-in-the-u-s
- Lean, Mean, and Norwegian
Source: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
by David Beckworth“What the Federal Reserve Can Learn from Norges Bank’s Tiered Reserve System.” (07/10/26)
https://macroeconomicpolicynexus.substack.com/p/lean-mean-and-norwegian
- Why Are Political Independents Less Patriotic Than Ever?
Source: Reason
by Nick Gillespie“For the same reason their ranks have grown to record highs: They dislike the federal government.” (07/10/26)
https://reason.com/2026/07/10/why-are-political-independents-less-patriotic-than-ever/
- Unattended Baggage, episode 348
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Weekend at Mitch’s.” (07/11/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-348-weekend-at-mitchs
- Pink Flame of Liberty, 07/11/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“NRSC v. FEC – Discussion and Relation to the RFK, Jr. JFC.” (07/11/26)
- The Good Fight, 07/11/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Deirdre McCloskey on What Really Caused the Industrial Revolution.” (07/11/26)
- Free Talk Live, 07/11/26
Source: Free Talk Live
“Dave Ridley calls in about Jason Osbourne making libertarian waves :: Sarah in NM calls about speed control for cars in Virginia :: Virginia man raided and charged for dismantling Flock cameras :: Frederick in MI calls about nanobot infiltration of his body and other mind control :: MasterPeace zeolite :: Who or what is running the world? :: Ohio law requires drivers and passengers to ID themselves :: Mitch McConnell :: Board of Peace (bored of peace) :: 2026-07-11 :: Hosts: Stu, Riley O’Bill, Angelo.” (07/11/26)
- Inside the Twitter Files
Source: Racket News
“A recording from Friday’s live video.” (07/11/26)
https://www.racket.news/p/recording-inside-the-twitter-files
- TAC Right Now, 07/10/26
Source: The American Conservative
“Nate Soares Warns of Superintelligent AI.” (07/10/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/tac-right-now-nate-soares-warns-of-superintelligent-ai/
- The Political Orphanage, 07/10/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Revenge of the Non-Profits.” (07/10/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/revenge-of-the-non-profits-0
- The Climate Realism Show, episode 207
Source: Heartland Institute
“Trump Restoring Real Climate Science.” (07/10/26)
https://heartland.org/podcasts/trump-restoring-real-climate-science-the-climate-realism-show-207/